Coburn’s book criticizes both parties on debt woes

Sen. Tom Coburn is leaving virtually no one unscathed in a blistering new book in which he accuses both parties of hypocrisy and failed leadership in dealing with the country’s mounting debt problems.

Among the Oklahoma Republican’s top targets: tax activist Grover Norquist, whom he calls a “paper tiger,” the “feudal class” of party leaders, interest groups and congressional aides, all of whom he says are simply eager to stay in power. Coburn targets President Barack Obama for failing to fully embrace the Bowles-Simpson deficit commission and effectively blowing up the Gang of Six talks. And he goes after President George W. Bush’s “fiscal disaster” of an administration.

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Coburn hits Norquist group - '11

As he tears through the Washington establishment in his book, “The Debt Bomb,” Coburn also rips House Republican leaders for not doing more to cut spending, calling them “alleged budget-cutters,” and says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been “AWOL” on the deficit.

Above all else, Coburn pins everything to one big problem: Lawmakers in both parties who spend their careers in Washington trying to stay in power rather than making politically treacherous decisions on cutting entitlements and raising revenues. He says voters should eject about half of his Senate colleagues from office each cycle to “change the direction of the country.”

“Careerism — the philosophy of governing to win the next election above all else — is the root of almost all that ails Washington,” Coburn writes in his new book, which will be released Tuesday. POLITICO was provided with an early copy.

“Both parties today are putting their short-term political interests ahead of the country,” he writes. “Both present their positions as tough and principled to their respective partisans, but what we often see is posturing and false purity.”

And while Coburn unleashes his fury in many directions, he portrays Norquist — the creator of the anti-tax pledge signed by virtually every Republican lawmaker, including Coburn himself — as symptomatic of the worst of Washington.

Norquist’s power as head of Americans for Tax Reform is a “myth,” Coburn writes, and he points to the fact that the GOP had been willing to put revenues on the table in a Republican supercommittee proposal as well as eliminating tax expenditures for ethanol blending. He calls Norquist a “creature” of Washington worried about the Republican “brand” rather than the country. He calls it “pure stupidity” that Norquist wouldn’t accept a hypothetical deal to slice $9 trillion in spending with one additional cent in revenue.

Norquist has “spent the last two decades managing and manipulating the insecurities of career politicians in order to cultivate his image as a power broker and secure well-paying clients who want to protect their tax earmarks.”

In an interview, Norquist shot back, saying that Coburn had “lied” about his group’s position opposing ethanol tax breaks and that Coburn was trying to blame “someone other than the American people for their unwillingness to raise taxes.”

“He took the pledge — not to me, to the voters.”

Coburn’s book is remarkable because sitting senators rarely engage in full-frontal criticisms on their own party — let alone in an election year. But the senator who’s called “Dr. No,” is hardly your typical senator. He’s known for mounting political battles within his own party, including his repeated coup attempts to drive then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich from power in the late 1990s. He’s planning to fulfill a pledge to retire after his second term ends in January 2017.

Thank you for calling it as you see it, Senator, quite refreshing. Certainly feels like we can do better. $15 trillion is a lot to put on the national credit card. And rejecting even a penny of additional revenues in return for trillions of spending cuts makes me want to get Grover the Poser on skates and introduce him to hockey, playoff style.

Never thought I'd see the day when I agreed with Coburn about anything, but he's absolutely right: about tax reform, about Norquist, about special interests, about office-holders in both parties, about the cowardice behind the failure to embrace Bowles-Simpson.

Sen. Tom Coburn is leaving virtually no one unscathed in a blistering new book in which he accuses both parties of hypocrisy and failed leadership in dealing with the country’s mounting debt problems

I agree.

What I disagree with the GOP about is that our debt is the # 1 problem - it isn't. The economy & jobs are more important -- if we get full employment and a raging economy, the debt can be paid down (as it was under Clinton).

Austerity is counter-productive - you cannot cut your way to prosperity.

To #5, maybe I don't understand how things work, but, if subsidies are cut, prices for 'the little guy' rise, right? So, politicians worry about who will be blamed for that because people will be outraged. Everyone's taxes are scheduled to rise in 2013, and with the price of all oil products rising, the 'entitled' will be furious and calling for heads to roll. The way I see it, both Repubs and Dems have to get out in front of this and tell the American people why cutting subsidies is necessary and good for them. I don't trust the collective American mentality to accept this, but... Most of us are smart enough to know that 'alternative fuels' won't be available (or affordable) to meet our needs for a long time, but the rise in oil prices might make expensive alternatives more attractive. However, the gov't should not be subsidizing them, either. The private sector, not the government, should determine it. Also, we must, for the time being, increase our domestic oil resources.

Unfortunately for the country, Senator Coburn won't be running for re-election. He's my Senator and I couldn't be happier with his representation. The Senator is a man of honor and if its a choice for anyone reading this article to believe either Tom Coburn or any other party named in the article, go with Coburn.

In response yo cgegeman--Senator Coburn is in favor of eliminating subsidies entirely, including those to the oil and gas industry, which BTW doesn't receive any. To my knowledge the only energy companies, or should I say faux energy companies, receiving subsidies and the supposedly green energy companies like Solyndra that were underwritten at our expense by the President.

Coburn should be targeting himself because the buck should start there first. And he is a republican that is still spewing the nonsense along with the cable chatterers that President Obama did not embrass the Bowles Simpson plan which is a lie. Everything that the President continues to put forth has elements in it of the Bowles Simpson plan. The republican party and Coburn himself do not accept the Bowles Simpson plan because the plan calls for taxes along with cuts. And all the republicans including Coburn do not accept taxes. So for the media to allow this lie to continue as well as for publishers to let a book with lies in go to print just shows us as a country to be not sincere about facts. Republican members of the committee especially Paul Ryan voted against the Bowles Simpson Plan and now are running all over the country lieing about how good it is yet they voted against it due to the fact it is a fair and balanced approach for which the President and the country are looking for in a plan to quell the debt and deficits. The counry agrees with President Obama's approach not Coburn or none of the republicans approach. In fact the country is getting ready to send Coburn and his republican party a clear message in 2012 and the message is the country has changed and is ready to move on from republican 18th,19th, and 20th century policies that are not good for a 21st century USA. The President is the one man with a good vision for the future of the country and President Obama's policies are rooted in a 21st century America. This is why no matter how much bad press the President gets he continues to enjoy wide spread popularity among the American people . Americans trust President Obama more than anyone demcrat,independent,or republican in the political establishment. And Coburn and republicans are working hard each and every day to ensure that President Obama is going to be re-elected by a wide margin again in Nov.2012.

Sounds like Coburn is getting to realize that the problem with Washington is bipartisan collusion. Just buy the Senators you need to get what you want. Clinton and the Republicans killed Glass Steagall which was a very graphic example of this collusion. It also took bipartisan collusion to steal $2.5 trillion from Social Security. Why we let the Federal Reserve run the Treasury Department with Timmy Geithner as their advocate, is a question I hope Coburn answers.